Universal Registration Document 2025

2. The job market in the communication, digital and technology business lines is tight in several countries, and in the agency business, it is structurally and historically very volatile. The Groupe’s attractiveness is strong due to its good financial performance, client gains and the Groupe’s strategy with a particularly innovative offering.

   In addition, even in times of growth, Publicis Groupe is a Company whose entities and agencies carry out regular adjustments in their organizations and always prioritize internal solutions. The HR/Talent teams promote training options (re-skilling and up-skilling) in order to enhance skills and facilitate job changes.

   The Groupe’s employment contracts are drawn up in compliance with the local legal and regulatory framework, for both permanent contracts and temporary contracts. Depending on local contexts and temporary needs for certain projects, freelance service contracts are offered for self-employed workers.

3. Freelancers are used when there is a temporary overload of work. Under the new rules of the European CSRD, these are occasional workers, referred to as “non-employees” in relation to the Company’s own workforce. As of December 31, 2025, the Groupe’s agencies were working with 6,563 freelancers. They are identified in the Career Settings system. [S1-7-56] A freelancer is a person who may have to work several times during the year with the agency that needs his or her services for extremely variable periods, depending on the projects. Some activities use freelancers more often, such as production, because this is how projects work.

/ Total number of non-employees – freelancers in own workforce (headcount) [S1-7-55 (a)]

Number of non-employees in own workforce

4. Calculation of freelancers is based on those present in the Groupe’s entities as of December 31, 2024. Freelancers are self-employed workers with whom they have individual service contracts. These are not employees of the Company. [S1-7-55 (b) i, S1-13-81]It is important to note that the status of the freelancer is, in the vast majority of cases, a voluntary choice on the part of the person concerned. This status allows great freedom in the choice of agencies, clients and projects on which to work. Regardless of the country, freelancers are offered the chance to join the Groupe’s teams as employees, but many turn down the offer because salaried status does not meet their preference for freedom. The use of temporary staff is marginal as it is rarely used in the Groupe’s business lines. [S1-7-55 (a) & (c)]
5. Work is organized around project management requirements and is tailored to meet client needs and the expectations of the employees themselves. Working hours are governed locally by laws and regulations. In October 2023, new rules on working and the return to the office (RTO) were set from 2024, with three days a week in the office in order to promote interpersonal relations in situ and spontaneous team cooperation. There are exceptions with regard to the type of project employees are working on or for more personal reasons (disability, family organization, etc.). For less than 5% of the workforce, full-time on-site presence may be required, particularly in support functions such as service continuity for IT teams, or for general services teams in charge of building maintenance and security.The completion of projects for clients often requires flexibility on the part of employees; in return for this flexibility, the local management of the agencies implements measures to compensate their efforts and give them more time during the summer (e.g. in summer, Friday afternoons are not worked in several American agencies) or for major holidays, such as in China (e.g. Chinese New Year), India (e.g. Diwali) and the United States (e.g. Thanksgiving).
6. The absenteeism rate within the Groupe in 2025 is estimated at 1.6%.Definition: the absenteeism rate is equal to the total number of days lost (all contract types taken together) for absences other than paid leave or maternity/paternity leave, divided by the number of business days in the year.